Tanzania Education Minister Adolf Mkenda on Monday announced the ban on The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, on claims that they violate cultural norms and said the government was closely monitoring libraries in both public and private schools to make sure they were not on their shelves.
It is however still unclear what content in the series of illustrated books by US author Jeff Kinney that follows the life of a schoolboy had offended the authorities.
Other books that fell on the wrong side of the minister include Sex Education: A Guide to Life. Although, the names he gave for two books appeared to be pages from “An ABC of Equality” which included the terms transgender and LGBTQIA.
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while speaking to a group of journalists in Dodoma, Mkenda said “We are banning these books from schools and other education institutions because they contradict Tanzanian cultural norms and morals.” He further proceeded to say, “The books also violate the good practices of bringing up our children,” while calling on parents to inspect their children’s bags to make sure they did not have the books.
The first book in the Wimpy Kid series was published in 2007. It has been translated into sixty-nine languages and 275 million copies have been sold worldwide. This is according to their website wimpykid.com. There have also been film adaptations of the book.
Last week, Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan met with university student leaders and asked them to be careful with some “imported cultures”, without elaborating any further. “If you are a Tanzanian, live in accordance with our cultures,” she emphasized.
Her comments followed remarks by a senior member of the ruling CCM party, Frank Haule, who claimed that same-sex activity was rampant in universities. “That practice is contrary to our cultures and is prohibited by religious books,” said Haule.
This move comes weeks after Uganda changed the combination of colors of a children’s play tower which was initially painted in rainbow colors during renovations. The move by the municipality was due to parents’ concerns and community uproar over the promotion of the homosexuality Agenda.
